In the world of currency and financial instruments various symbols of value are utilized to facilitate acquiring, owning and transferring financial value. Examples of physical representation of cryptocurrency products that store value include denarium, bitnote, Suisse polymerbit, and cassascius coins, and cryptocurrency wallets. One feature that all of these have in common is the inclusion of a security feature, which is in the form of information that is usually beneath either a holographic sticker or a scratch-off material. These stickers or scratch-off materials are intended to be removed and therefore are located on an easily-accessible exterior surface of the token.
There are problems associated with these conventional security features. One of the most serious of the problems is tampering. Holographic stickers can be quickly and easily removed by using a hypodermic syringe to inject solvent under the sticker. Once the sticker is removed, a person can view the information that is beneath the sticker and then re-attach the sticker, usually with little to no indication that any tampering has occurred. Scratch-off materials are also similarly prone to tampering and/or counterfeiting. Furthermore, the hidden information below stickers or scratch off materials may be revealed by techniques such as x-ray. NMR, or electromagnetic or thermal analysis. Similarly, codes on separate pieces of paper inside of a protective envelope can be revealed by de-lamination of the envelope, and even replaced with false codes and then re-laminated without detection.
For bills, a sticker is deeply flawed for counting and sorting machines because it could come off rendering the bill compromised. Similarly, scratch-off material cannot be handled very much without being compromised.
Another important distinction is that a sticker or scratch-off material makes the financial note essentially disposable. Makers of these products advise that a currency coin or bill could be compromised in any transaction and advise people to return the code to the blockchain as soon as they receive it, and to buy a new coin or bill if they want it in that form. This is a clear acknowledgement that the secure storage of the information in the currency instrument is not considered trustworthy. This disposability is a serious disadvantage and a cost, effectively making the bill or coin a one-exchange item.
A search of the prior art did not disclose any literature or patents that read directly on the claims of the instant invention. However, the following U.A. patents are considered related:
PAT. NO.INVENTORISSUEDKR20160050876KyunOct. 31, 20142016/0371679GotoDec. 22, 20162016/358420McCullahDec. 8, 2016
The KR2016/0050876 publication discloses a bitcoin trading method capable of reinforcing security by storing a private key and a public key of a dealer which are necessary for bitcoin trading in a smart card held by the dealer and which is not in a web. The invention relates to using a public key and a private key stored in a smart card. The bitcoin trading method comprises: storing a pair of authentication keys including a public key and a private key of a dealer issued from a bitcoin trading management server in a smart card of the dealer, inputting bitcoin trading information including a public key of a trade partner in a trading terminal; transmitting the private key of the dealer stored in the smart card to the trading terminal; encrypting the bitcoin trading information with the private key of the dealer received from the smart card by the trading terminal, and by the bitcoin trading management server. According to the present invention, the bitcoin trading method may reinforce security by storing a private key and a public key of a dealer which are necessary for bitcoin trading and many use the existing infrastructure without investing additional costs.
The 2016/0371679 publication discloses a method of conducting a virtual currency transaction through payment cards. The method comprises steps of a payer providing a payment card with an encrypted address; associating the encrypted address to at least one virtual wallet having currencies; a payee receiving a predetermined amount of currencies from the virtual wallet by scanning the encrypted address; and the payee depositing the currencies into payee's virtual wallet.
The 2016/358420 publication discloses a method wherein an in-game currency (including digital or currency) or in-game resource is backed by or designated to represent a real world currency or a real world physical object. The in-game currency or in-game resource is backed with real currency, digital currency or a physical object using a percentage of the revenues from in-game purchases, game subscriptions or in-game advertising.